Through the Looking Glass
by Gamma Orionis
Summary: Once the war ends, Lucius will be free to divorce Narcissa and he and Alice can finally marry. He has it all worked out. But then the Dark Lord falls... Written for luciusbigbang on LiveJournal.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes: Written for luciusbigbang on LiveJournal. The banner can be seen here: i**DOT**imgur**DOT**com/5xiGR**DOT**jpg

I extend massive thanks, first to secretlypadfoot, for cheerleading me while I wrote this, and secondly, to l0stinl0ve, for a wonderful beta job. You've both been incredibly helpful.

Finally, I'd like to dedicate this story to Couture Girl, for her unending enthusiasm for all things Lucius/Alice, and for this story. I hope you like it, my darling.

Enjoy!

)O(

There was a light burning in an upstairs window of the Longbottoms' home.

Lucius had been watching it for hours now, waiting for it to wink out, but it still glowed brightly, despite the lateness of the hour. Midnight was fast approaching and yet it _still_ seemed that they hadn't gone to bed, and he couldn't do anything until Frank Longbottom was asleep.

He had been skulking up and down the street since sunset – no, since before sunset, since the moment he had been able to get away from the Ministry, and the evening was beginning to turn cold, and he was growing impatient.

But Lucius would not compromise his safety by making any sort of sudden move. He would not set a foot on the Longbottom property until he was _positive_ that he was going to be seen by the right person.

He leaned against the wall of the house opposite the Longbottoms', tugging down the hood of his cloak so that his face was in shadow, then, thinking better of it, he pushed it back so that only his hair was obscured. The Longbottoms would surely become suspicious of a hooded figure skulking just outside their house.

Come to that, they would probably become suspicious of _any_ figure skulking outside their house. Perhaps Frank had already caught sight of him and was going to keep the lights on until he left, just in case he meant them harm.

Lucius started down the street, wandering down the adjoining roads and keeping one eye on the Longbottoms' until he saw the light go out upstairs. The second the window was dark, he started back towards the house, his breath coming in quick, excited little gasps.

He flung the gate open, started down the little path through their gardens. Barely had he reached the door and had just raised his hand to knock when it swung open.

Alice was standing there, looking livid.

"Lucius," she said, her voice sharp and absolutely devoid of the tenderness that he so enjoyed hearing her speak with, "you need to leave right now. I've _told_ you–"

"Spare me the lecture, Alice," he said, reaching out to grab her by her shoulder. He intended to pull her out of her house and into the dark with him, but she slapped his hand away irritably.

"You shouldn't be here, Lucius," she told him. She stepped swiftly outside and shut the door behind her, glancing back over her shoulder. Lucius followed her eyes. A light was just visible in the parlour behind her – a light that had been invisible to him when he was watching from outside.

"Is Frank still awake, then?" he asked in a low voice.

"Of course he is, you _idiot_," Alice hissed. "What did you expect? Do you think we're sleeping easily in times like these? Do you think _any_ Auror is?"

"Don't you speak to me that way." Even to himself, Lucius's voice sounded petulant. He sounded like a child who had not gotten his way, and it frustrated him that Alice could so easily rob him of all his dignity.

"I will speak to you how I want when you come to my home at night," she shot back. "And at any other time, for that matter. I'm not _afraid_ of you, Lucius, as you well know. – and don't even _try_ to tell me that I should be. You aren't going to hurt me if I tell you to stay away from my house."

He had an urge to pull out his wand and aim it at her, show her how very wrong she was, but logic stopped him from doing that. If she screamed, Frank would come running and Lucius had not the faintest idea how he might explain his presence to him. He would probably take Lucius in, insisting that the fact that he was at his home at night was all the proof that the Ministry needed that Lucius was a Death Eater.

So he did not attack Alice. He reached out instead to lay a slender hand upon her shoulder and draw her closer to him. "It has been a terribly long time."

"It hasn't been very long," said Alice, but her voice softened a bit, and a smile twitched upon her lips, though she hid it quickly. "Besides, we've already talked about this… there's no point in us keeping this up. You know as well as I do that one of us is going to die before this war is over."

"No, we aren't," Lucius said firmly. He clenched his fists, glaring at Alice. "Neither of us is going to die. I've made sure that the Dark Lord thinks that you and your husband aren't a threat–"

"And what do you expect that to change, Lucius? Do you think that it's going to stop him? Were all those Muggles he killed a threat?"

Lucius took a deep breath, calming himself before he spoke next so that he would not shout. "They were not. We both know that, Alice. But he does not like to spill Wizarding blood without cause–"

"But he will! And his followers? Do you think _they'd_ hesitate to spill as much blood as they wanted? I know that _you_ have all sorts of high-minded ideals, but not all of them do…"

"They will not waste their time on you!" Lucius paused, pondering if he should finish his thought, then added, in a slow, sombre voice, "and they don't have very much time left to do it, in any case."

"What?" Alice looked immediately alarmed and alert. "Don't they? Is there something that's going to change?" Then, as though she hardly dared hope, "Have you heard news… is the war ending, do you think, Lucius?"

"Yes." He dropped his voice even lower. "And if you tell anyone about this, I'll be killed, so don't breathe a word, but yes."

"What news?" she asked breathlessly.

"There is… there was… a prophecy…" he said slowly, unsure of how much he could give away. "The Dark Lord heard of it, and it… said…" He took a deep breath. "It said that there was a boy, born at the end of July, who could bring the Dark Lord's downfall."

Alice's face had gone white.

"A boy… born at the end of July?"

"Yes." Lucius closed his eyes and recited an undertone what he had overheard Severus telling the Dark Lord. "Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies."

"Merlin." Alice pressed a hand over her mouth and stepped back, grasping the door frame and swaying. "Oh… _Merlin_, Lucius."

"Alice?" He put out his hands to catch her while she swayed, for she looked so terrible, as though she were about to faint, but she slapped his hands away while clinging to the door for support.

"Alice, what is it?"

"_Neville_," she whispered. Her voice came out as a weak and tremulous croak. "My Neville… born at the end of July… to parents- who fought You-Know-Who three times… oh, Merlin…"

Blood drained from Lucius's face, more out of fear that Alice might die on the spot than fear that her child might be in danger. He grasped her firmly by her shoulders, pushing her down to the ground so that she did not fall.

"I need to tell Albus," Alice whispered, still ashen-faced. "I need to protect Neville- my son–"

"Think a moment, Alice!" Lucius told her, and even considering the state she was in, he could not help being frustrated by her. "Do you hear yourself? What would you tell Albus? Would you tell him that you just _knew_ that the Dark Lord would be coming for your child? How would you explain what you knew?"

"It doesn't matter!" she cried, almost hysterically. "I need my son to be safe!" She was struggling against his grip now. "I need to tell Frank!"

Lucius drew back his hand and slapped her hard across her face.

"Stop that!" he ordered her. "You will not be telling Frank anything. Now be quiet and breathe deeply and listen to me."

Alice fell silent, eyeing him warily, and he took a moment to formulate what he would say next.

"Do not tell Frank anything," he said at last. "Do not tell Albus anything. Let _me_ talk to the Dark Lord. I'll convince him that there's some other boy – any other boy, it doesn't matter who – who fits the description in the prophecy. I can do that, you know, Alice. I'll keep you safe."

"Keep _Neville_ safe."

"Yes, yes!" he snapped. "You and him both. But Alice…"

"Yes?"

If it was cruel to take advantage in this situation, Lucius didn't care. He leaned forward, so he was breathing right in her ear, and said, very quietly, "If I do this, then after the war is over, you will leave Frank, and marry me… yes?"

Alice let out a tiny whimper, but as Lucius drew back, he saw a grim sort of desperate determination in her eyes.

"You'll leave Narcissa for me?"

"Yes." He didn't take even a moment to hesitate.

"Then yes, Lucius," she told him. "Of course."

Lucius nodded, stepping away from Alice. She clung to the doorframe, staring after him with wide and teary eyes, and he managed a small smile.

"The war's almost over," he told her, almost as much for his own sake as hers. "You'll be safe soon."

"I hope so," Alice whispered, and as Lucius turned and strode away, the same sentiment echoed in his mind.

_I hope so._


	2. Chapter 2

"You're home late," Narcissa said when Lucius slipped inside. She was sitting near the door, ghostly pale with her blonde hair streaming around her face and her nightdress almost glowing in the moonlight, and Draco was cradled in her arms. Lucius winced at the coldness in her voice.

"I was working," he told her, the simple lie that had become commonplace in their household. Any night that Lucius was out late – he was always _working._

"Of course you were." Narcissa sounded resigned, too tired to argue. She rose slowly, still cradling their son tenderly in her arms, looking at him instead of at Lucius.

"He misses you when you're out," she told him, gently running one finger along the side of their son's face. "Always crying for his father…"

"You may tell him that his father is busy securing the fate of the Wizarding world," Lucius said, a little more sharply than he intended. Draco stirred and let out a small whine, and Narcissa silenced him, pressing her fingers to his lips.

"Please don't shout, Lucius," she said, looking up at him.

There was a pause, Lucius unwilling to apologize, even though he did feel a gnawing sense of guilt in his stomach, and Narcissa staring at him with an odd, searching look.

"What were you doing tonight?" she asked him at last.

"Nothing unusual." He did not meet her eye, preferring to stare at his son in her arms. "Just at the Ministry late… going over some papers, clearing up a few tips… making sure that the Ministry has no idea where any of us," he lowered his voice to whisper, "_Death Eaters_ are. All terribly dull to you, I'm sure."

"On the contrary," said Narcissa, "it's really quite fascinating."

Lucius eyed her worriedly. "Fascinating, darling? Why, even I don't think–"

"_Fascinating_," she interrupted, "because if you were at the Ministry this evening, then I would think that Augustus would have seen you. Augustus _Rookwood_," she added, when Lucius looked mildly confused. "That man who _lets you in to the Ministry after hours._"

"Why, he did see me," Lucius said, keeping his face calm and impassive. _She doesn't have any idea. It's a trick. She's trying to trick me to stop me from saying that I was working late, she's trying to get me to confess…_ "What on earth makes you think he didn't?"

"What makes me think that he didn't," Narcissa said icily, "is that just… oh…" She glanced at Lucius's grandfather clock, a family heirloom, which stood ticking quietly in the corner, "about half an hour back, he came calling, asking if something was wrong. You see, he'd been expecting you, and you'd never turned up."

Lucius's jaw tightened. _Damn Rookwood._ He would pay for that at some point, Lucius would be sure of it… hadn't he _said_ not to come calling on Narcissa about Lucius?

"Rookwood is a fool, then," he said coldly. "He let me in, as he always does." Then, a lie emerging on his tongue as naturally as he could have expected it to, "he left the key in the usual place, that is. I had assumed that he was watching, but he must have nipped off somewhere _just_ when I went in…"

"He said that he searched the whole building for you."

"Bad luck, isn't it?"

"You weren't at the Ministry, were you, Lucius?"

He forced a laugh, flicking one hand airily as though to wave away the notion that he had not been at the Ministry. "Of course I was, Narcissa, don't be ridiculous. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go on up to bed…"

Narcissa did not protest that, and Lucius turned away and started for the stairs, every muscle in his body tensing as he felt Narcissa's eyes upon him. He quickened his pace, and then froze in his tracks when Narcissa called out, "Were you with Alice again?"

He turned around very slowly, eyeing her warily. "With… Alice, my dear?" he asked, forcing himself to sound innocent.

"Alice," Narcissa repeated. She stepped towards him, floating like a ghost, a light breeze shifting her nightdress around her ankles and sending a few locks of pale hair fluttering. "Alice Longbottom. The Auror. Were you with her again?"

"Why, where would you ever get that idea?"

"Don't lie to me, Lucius," she hissed. "I'm not stupid, no matter what you think. I _know_ that you and that _woman_ are having an affair." She advanced on him, her breast heaving and her whole body trembling slightly as she clutched Draco against herself. Her eyes were wide, and Lucius could see a flickering of her eldest sister in them.

"This is paranoia, Cissy," he told her, forcing himself not to betray any emotion, least of all fear. "What would I want with her?"

"What does any man want of any woman?" Narcissa sneered, and Lucius's eyes narrowed.

"That is crude."

"It is the truth!"

"It most certainly is not." Lucius took one step back down the stairs, so that he was inches from Narcissa, standing over her and forcing her to stare directly up at him.

"Now listen to me," he told her, slowly and clearly, "and listen very, _very_ carefully. I am _not_ having an affair with anyone, least of all an Auror – least of all _Alice Longbottom_. And, Narcissa, I swear to God that if you _ever_ suggest that again…" His voice went low and dangerous, as dangerous as he could make it sound, "Then I will make you _pay._"

Narcissa did not flinch, did not even blink, only stared up at him with a clear and stoic look upon her face.

Lucius considered giving her a slap for good measure, but no, if he did that, then she would surely realize how deeply her accusation had shaken him. He turned his back on her, and swept up the stairs with every bit of dignity he had, leaving his wife behind.

And with every step, the question pounded in his head.

_How did she know?_

Lucius prided himself on being a good liar – being capable of hiding his feelings whenever he needed – it was what had made him such an asset to the Dark Lord. He was capable of attending meetings with the Death Eaters, then Disapparating directly to lunch with the Minister of Magic and never betraying that he might have been somewhere that the Minister could disapprove of. It should have been no difficulty at all for him to hide an affair, and yet Narcissa – a woman, and not a desperately intelligent one either – could see through him. She could see where he had been.

_Someone must have told her!_

That thought shook Lucius more than any accusation of infidelity could have. Narcissa knowing about him and Alice was bad enough, but someone else _also_ knowing would be nothing short of disaster.

Lucius closed his eyes, mentally running through a list of all the people who could have told Narcissa about him and Alice.

The Dark Lord was the immediate and most frightening possibility, but he discounted him quickly – if he knew that Lucius was carrying on an affair with an Auror, he would surely have had Lucius tortured, excommunicated and killed, not left it to Narcissa to chide him for adultery.

One of the men in the Auror office, perhaps? Had they seen Lucius and Alice speaking to each other at some late hour and assumed the worst? But none of them even knew Narcissa, and even the nosiest would have confronted Lucius – demanding to know why he would break apart Alice's marriage – before going to her. They didn't know, after all, that he and Alice were on opposite sides of the war…

No, this was all madness. Lucius shook his head, running his hands through his long hair and pressing his palms against his eyes. Narcissa had no idea. She had named a woman at random in hopes of getting Lucius to confess to something, anything. No doubt she had only happened to pick Alice because she thought that she would be the most repulsive woman possible to Lucius, and that to him, confessing an affair with any other woman would be preferable than a belief that he was bedding Alice Longbottom.

That was what he told himself, but the worry that he might have been found out still kept him awake until dawn.


	3. Chapter 3

"I think it would just be lovely to invite the Lestranges over for a Halloween party. Don't you agree?" Narcissa said almost as soon as Lucius stepped into the kitchen the next morning. She was sitting at the table with Draco clutched in her arms and she looked up at Lucius when he came in with eyes that could only be described as watery.

"If that's what you want," he said, keeping his voice blank and trying to avoid looking at her. "Dobby, tea," he added, and the house-elf scurried to pour a cup for him.

"It is what I want," Narcissa told him. "You would stay and talk to them with me, wouldn't you?"

"Of course I would." _As if I could avoid it._

"Good," Narcissa said. "You won't be at work on Halloween, will you? You won't be working late?"

"Well…" _Yes, I'll be working late with Alice, who is far better company than you or the Lestranges_, he thought spitefully, but gritted his teeth against saying it and nodded. "I'll have to go in during the day, of course, but I'll– I'll come home early to help you prepare." Saying it made Lucius want to sneer or spit, but he managed to get the words out earnestly. He would have to wait until the day after Halloween to see Alice again, then – unless they could arrange something during the workday…

"Will the Dark Lord be wanting you for anything on Halloween? Will there be any particular…" She lowered her voice. "Incidents or- or missions that he will need you to assist with?"

"I don't believe so. Or- well, he had spoken of…" Lucius trailed off, then grabbed his cup of tea away from Dobby and pointed at the door. "Get out. Go to the attic."

Only when the house-elf had rushed away did Lucius continue, in a low voice. "You oughtn't know this, Cissy – I'm not supposed to tell you – but he has heard of a prophecy that could indicate his downfall, and he has spoken of trying to _take care of_ the person referred to in it on Halloween night."

"And he won't need you for that, will he?" Narcissa asked.

Lucius felt a surge of disgust for his wife's superficiality – _thinking of parties when the Dark Lord might fall on the very night she wishes to spend entertaining her sister and brothers-in-law_ – but he gritted his teeth and nodded. "That's right. So I'll be home in plenty of time for your party, don't worry…" He leaned over and kissed Narcissa's hair lightly, though he was aware of her twitching away from his touch.

"Have a good day at work, dear," she told him quietly, not looking up at him, but staring instead down at Draco, who was lying quietly in her arms, sucking his fingers.

"I will," Lucius promised, then all but bolted for the door.

Alice was sitting in the chair beside his desk when he got to the Ministry. She was holding a thick file folder and looking impatient.

"You're late," she said disapprovingly.

Lucius sighed, stepping in and locking the door behind him. "I'm sorry, darling – Narcissa kept me… she was rambling on about wanting to have a party on Halloween and I couldn't very well just brush her off – I think she suspects…"

"She'd have to be bloody stupid not to, wouldn't she?" Alice asked, rolling her eyes a little. "It's hardly as though you're much good at hiding your intentions, is it, Lucius? If I were her and I saw you rushing off to work every day and coming home at all hours of the night, you'd better believe I'd expect you to be having an affair."

"Charming." Lucius sat down beside her, and then indicated the folder she was holding. "What's that?"

"This…" Alice said, dropping it down on his desk in front of him, "is everything the Auror office has on who they suspect of being Death Eaters. I'm supposed to be taking it to Crouch so he can read through the evidence and decide who he wants to prosecute, and I can't keep it away for too long because he'll be expecting me, but I thought you might want to have a look…" She opened it, and Lucius blinked, staring down at a picture of himself and Narcissa. He felt his stomach turn.

"They suspect us?"

"Yes," she told him, rather briskly, "and I think you might want to…" She plucked the picture out and handed it to him. "Get rid of that."

"How did they find out?" Lucius hissed, and when Alice didn't answer, he grabbed her by her shoulders, shaking her. His heart had leapt up into his throat. "What do they know? _How_ do they know?"

"Take your hands off me," Alice said coolly.

Lucius dropped his hands and Alice took a moment to straighten her blouse before she said, "As I understand it, Frank's been very interested in getting you accused… not that we discuss it, but I do hear…"

"Oh, well, thank you _ever_ so much for letting me know," Lucius said, not without a hint of sarcasm. He tore the picture in half, then into quarters, then into eighths, then he threw it into his wastebasket, directed the wand at it and watched with some satisfaction as the whole mess went up in flames.

"Oh, it's no trouble," Alice snapped. "All I had to do was _steal one of the best guarded files in the Auror office!_"

"Which shouldn't be difficult for someone who _works_ there!"

"You haven't got the first clue how things work in the Auror office, then!"

They both fell silent, and then Alice grabbed Lucius, smashing her mouth against his.

"You're _such_ a _bastard_," she murmured against his lips, and Lucius let out a very small, harsh laugh. He pulled her onto his lap, letting her straddle him.

"So I've been told," Lucius said. "I've found it serves me well…"

Alice snorted, kissing him deeply once again. "You think that, do you?"

"I do- oh…" He broke off, making a soft purring noise as Alice's hands ran over his chest, moving slowly down his torso and working their way under his robes to the waistband of his trousers. He smirked a bit and knotted his hands in her short, dark hair, holding her head firmly in place with her mouth pressed against his. She cupped him through his trousers, squeezing him hard in her hand, then pulled back, sliding off his lap and grabbing up the file folder with a devilish smirk.

"I have to deliver this," she told him, backing up towards the door and winking quickly before slipping outside. Lucius watched her hurry off, then slumped back, panting and running his hand over his hair, smoothing it back into place and doing his best to compose himself.

He smiled a little, looking down at his desk, then the smile slipped from his face as he thought again about the picture of him in the file.

_So her husband might suspect, then._

And Narcissa _certainly_ suspected, no matter how hard Lucius tried to convince himself otherwise. No matter how many times he tried to tell himself that Narcissa just wanted to get a reaction from him, it was too much to hope that it had been a coincidence.

He would just have to appease her. He would have to be polite and sweet to her and act as though she was the most important woman in the world to him, at least until the war was over. Then Lucius could take Alice and leave Narcissa and…

He pressed the palms of his hands against his eyes until stars burst in front of them and tried to think only of Alice and not at all of Narcissa.

)O(

On Halloween, as he was leaving work, he caught Alice's arm, pulling her quickly against him and around a corner where they wouldn't be seen. "I have to leave work early."

"What for?" Alice asked, looking a bit miffed. "I thought you and I were going to spend an hour or two…" She trailed off seductively, looking up at him through lowered eyelashes. "Weren't we?"

"Narcissa's going to be having the Lestranges over for dinner. Believe me, I'd rather be with you…" He caught her hair in his hand, tugging it a little and pulling her head back so she was facing up, then pressing a rough kiss to the inside of her neck.

"Spending Halloween with your wife's family… how sweet," Alice breathed, a bit teasingly.

"Nothing about me and Narcissa is _sweet_, as you know very well…"

"That's what you think." Alice's hand moved slowly down Lucius's chest, sliding beneath his robes and pressing against the crotch of his trousers. "Narcissa's _terribly_ sweet…"

"And you can be a wretched little bitch at times, I hope you know, Alice…"

"I know," she purred, standing on tiptoe to kiss him. "Frank's going out drinking with some friends… come over once Narcissa's gone to bed; he'll be out cold."

"I will," he told her, taking her wrist and pinning her hand behind her, then leaning down and kissing her roughly, biting down on her lips. Alice let out a small, rough groan and lifted one leg, wrapping it around Lucius and hoisting herself up so that she was even with him. She put her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, her skirt riding up a bit.

"Someone might see…" Lucius murmured, though he didn't expect anyone to find them or Alice to stop.

"Don't care…" she sang, knotting her fingers in his hair.

"You don't want this to get back to your husband – or to Narcissa… do you?" He was finding it rather difficult to protest, and Alice's hand was moving down inside his trousers, making him let out a small moan.

"They won't find out," she said carelessly. "You're being paranoid…"

"You're the one who doesn't want me coming to your house at night for fear…"

"Oh, shut up." Alice grabbed his cock and shut him up by pulling hard on it, making his whole body buckle and a groan of pleasure escape his lips. She slid her hand further down into his trousers, cupping his balls and squeezing them lightly between her fingers.

"_Fuck…_"

"You like that?" Alice purred teasingly, nipping at the side of his neck.

"You know I do…"

"So tell me the truth, Lucius," she murmured, her hand still working at him, but her voice as calm – even _cool_ – as if she were discussing the weather, "when was the last time Narcissa did something like this to you?"

"As if you need to compete with her…"

"Just tell me."

"Never," Lucius assured her, and Alice, apparently satisfied with the answer, fell silent.


	4. Chapter 4

"Lucius," Narcissa said quietly, when he came in late on the afternoon of Halloween, "I want you to be decent to Bellatrix tonight. For once."

"I've always been decent to her, Narcissa," he said, trying not to sound as sharp and snappish as he felt was justified. "You would know that if you paid any attention to–"

"Stop it!" Narcissa interrupted. Her voice was louder, shriller than usual and Lucius fell silent. She pressed her hands over her eyes, breathing deeply. There was a long, tense pause before she looked back up at Lucius and spoke again.

"I know you're having an affair, Lucius," she said tiredly. He opened his mouth automatically to say that she was wrong, but she held up her hand and shook her head. "Don't try to deny it, that's just going to make it difficult for both of us. I'm not- I'm not angry with you… well, I suppose I am," she corrected herself, rubbing her forehead. "But I'm not going to- to leave you… or any such thing… I love you, Lucius," she added, looking up at him a bit desperately.

_Like Hell you do._

"All I ask," she said, and her voice trembled horribly, "is that you take this _one_ evening to spend with me and my sister and her family… one evening, for me…"

Lucius pressed his lips together. He had an almost painful urge to slap the sanctimonious, self-pitying expression that Narcissa was wearing right off her face, but he couldn't bring himself to actually do it. She was a good woman, he supposed, if dull and self-righteous. She didn't deserve to be slapped.

Just divorced.

_And that will come soon enough. Soon enough._

"I'll do my best. I'll be polite to them," he promised her, and when he leaned in and kissed her ever so lightly on her forehead, she didn't shy away.

"Thank you, Lucius," she said quietly, and when he drew back, she did not look at him, but lifted her hand to her cheek as if to brush away a tear. Her eyes were cast down to the ground. She did not speak again until there was a knock on the door of Malfoy Manor and she rushed to answer it.

Lucius followed his wife, forcing the most charming smile that he could muster onto his face. She opened the door and Bellatrix swept her younger sister into her arms immediately.

"Cissy," she murmured into her ear. "How are you? Have things been all right?"

Narcissa cast a swift glance at Lucius, who glared back at her, willing her with everything in him not to tell Bellatrix any of the very, very many ways in which things hadn't been all right.

"Of course things have been all right, Bella," Narcissa said quietly, and Lucius thanked God that Bellatrix questioned Narcissa no further.

"Do come in," Lucius told her, indicating the door to the parlour, and Bellatrix let Narcissa go, sweeping in as though she owned the place. Rodolphus and Rabastan were at her heels, preceded by Rabastan's usual rattling cough.

"Have you been feeling any worse, Rabastan?" Lucius asked politely as the two men stepped inside and Narcissa shut the door. Rabastan shook his head, raising a handkerchief to his mouth and coughing into it, and Rodolphus gave Lucius a small, tight smile.

"And you, Lucius?" Rodolphus asked. "As well as ever?"

"I've been fine," he said rather shortly, though he would have very much liked to say that he had been a good deal better than fine, all due to Alice and no thanks to Narcissa.

"Cissa," Rodolphus continued, touching Narcissa's arm, "You look lovely as ever..."

"Thank you, Rodolphus," murmured Narcissa, blushing demurely, like a schoolgirl.

Lucius's lip curled. How dare she accuse him of infidelity when she looked at Rodolphus Lestrange that way? It sickened him, how she could make eyes at other men - and it was common knowledge that she had bedded him, though Lucius was led to believe that they were doing so no longer.

"And how has your work for the Dark Lord been progressing, Lucius?" Bellatrix asked. She was already striding into the parlour as if she owned the manor – which she practically did, Narcissa indulged her so – and didn't even look back at Lucius as she went.

"It's been going very well," he said, forcing a tight-lipped smile. "And yours?"

"All the work that I do for him is confidential, of course," she said airily. "The Dark Lord would not want me to talk of it with other people… _lower_ people."

If Lucius had dared, he would have willingly cursed her right there. His hand twitched automatically towards his wand, but he stilled it, keeping himself steady as best he could. Bellatrix had turned back to look at him and was watching him with an infuriatingly superior little smirk, for she _knew_ that he wanted to hurt her and wouldn't dare.

"But it's all going very well," she continued after a suitably tense pause. "He is very proud of my work… very pleased with me…"

"I'm sure he is," Lucius said.

_How dare she speak that way when everyone knows that the most she does for the Dark Lord is sleep with him…_

"Dinner," Narcissa said, taking her sister's arm firmly and dragging her into the dining room. Lucius noticed that Rodolphus and Rabastan glanced at each other before they joined the women and Lucius followed them.

Dinner was already set out, more dishes than they could ever have eaten spread on the table and decorated enticingly. Narcissa had already taken her seat and Bellatrix joined her immediately. Rodolphus and Rabastan sat opposite the sisters, leaving Lucius to slide into his place at the head of the table. Bellatrix reached out immediately and stabbed a leg of chicken with her fork, dragging it to her plate and picking it apart, separating the meat from the bones with a careful and delicate touch.

"Where has the Dark Lord gone tonight, Bellatrix?" Lucius asked, hoping that if he could direct the flow of conversation, he could avoid being accused of infidelity, as was sure to happen any time that Bellatrix and Narcissa were together in the same room.

"Have I not said that his work and what I know of it is confidential?" Bellatrix demanded, but Rodolphus waved his hand vaguely through the air.

"What does it matter, Bella?" he asked. "After all, the whole world will know in just a few hours… it is not as if telling Lucius and Narcissa will do him any harm."

"You may tell him if that is what you think is best," Bellatrix said, glowering slightly. "But I shall not be held responsible if the Dark Lord takes this as a signal that you cannot be expected to keep his secrets."

Rodolphus rolled his eyes slightly and turned to Lucius. "He's gone to kill the child."

Lucius's heart all but froze in his chest. He felt sweat slicken his palms and brow, felt his knife slip from his hand.

_Alice!_

"P- pardon?"

"The boy," Rodolphus repeated. "The boy in the prophecy that he's been ever so concerned about…"

"He…" Lucius thought that he was about to be sick. He wiped his hand discreetly on his robes. "He found out what boy it referred to, then?"

"Of course he did. The Dark Lord can hardly be prevented from finding out such things…"

"Who is it?" Lucius asked. He felt ill, so terribly ill – if the Dark Lord had gone to the Longbottoms' home, that surely meant that he had found his way to them, found his way past their defences and Lucius would have no way of helping Alice.

"Some Gryffindor family…" Rodolphus said and Lucius tensed still more, trembling slightly in fear, then he added, "The Potters, I think their name was," and Lucius weakened from sheer relief.

"James and Lily Potter," Rabastan supplied.

Rodolphus nodded. "Yes, those are the people. Why do you ask?"

"I was simply curious." Lucius wiped his hands on his napkin and tried to discreetly dry the perspiration on his forehead.

_So he had gone to the Potters._

_All was well, then._

If he killed the Potters' baby, then no harm would come to Alice. Alice was safe. Everything was going to be all right.

They fell into silence over the dinner. Bellatrix and Narcissa seemed to be communicating in that way that the closest of sisters and friends could – with glances and small movements of the head and hands and occasionally a single, murmured word. Lucius watched them idly, still enjoying the relief of realizing that Alice was all right.

Then Bellatrix screamed.

Lucius didn't think he had ever heard Bellatrix scream before – not like that, not wordlessly, not in pain – but he had only a moment to consider it before he was distracted by his Dark Mark.

It was burning.

_Surely calling us to some celebration of the Dark Lord's victory_.

Lucius pushed his chair back and began to stand, but the burning was intensifying – in fact, within moments, it had gone from the familiar pain worthy of making him clench his fists to an all-consuming agony that made him double over. Bellatrix let out another terrible scream, and though Lucius's vision was blurred with tears of pain that were springing to his eyes automatically, he thought he saw Rabastan slither to the ground, his body twitching as if he was under the Cruciatus Curse. Lucius tried to move, tried to help him up, but the pain had moved its focus from his arm to the pit of his stomach and he couldn't move without retching. From a great distance, he could hear Narcissa crying out _What's wrong? What's wrong?_ but he couldn't speak to answer.

It seemed like an eternity before the pain dissolved and Lucius was able to raise his head and look around. Narcissa was in tears, shaking her sister, who was slumped on the table, her body quivering. Rodolphus was clearly trying to help his brother up, but his hands were shaking so violently that he couldn't even get a hand on Rabastan's arm.

"_What's happening?_" Narcissa screamed hysterically. She rushed to Lucius's side, clutching him. "Lucius, what's _wrong_?"

He began to speak, intending to tell her that it was the Dark Mark, but he was cut off by another scream from Bellatrix.

A slightly different scream.

One of horror.

Lucius looked at her, bracing himself to see her shaking and twitching again, but she wasn't. She had pulled back her sleeve and was staring at her arm with abject horror.

"My Mark," she whispered, her voice shaking. "My Dark Mark is gone!"

There was a moment of silence, then Lucius grabbed his own sleeve, ripping it back.

The tattoo that he had become so used to seeing – the back, writhing, almost _living_ mark that had graced his arm since he had joined the Death Eaters so many years ago, was gone.

Not _quite_ gone – his whole arm was red, the flesh torn and inflamed, and there was a faint, grey shadow of the Mark, but it was nothing like how it should have been.

"What's- what's happened?" Rabastan said in a small, quavering voice.

There was a long pause, then Lucius said, his voice shaking as well, "I think… I think that something may have happened to the Dark Lord."


	5. Chapter 5

Bellatrix was inconsolable. The moment that it was suggested that something had befallen the Dark Lord, she had dissolved into sobs, and Narcissa had only just been able to get her to the parlour to lie down. Both women – and Rodolphus and Rabastan – were staying there, the men quietly murmuring, Bellatrix hysterically declaring over and over that nothing could have happened to her Master and Narcissa sitting at her side, holding her hand.

Lucius hovered at the edge of the parlour, trying to block out Bellatrix's sobbing and think.

When hours had passed, when the night had gone and the sun had risen again and there had been no word from the Dark Lord, nor any reappearance of the Dark Marks on any of their arms, Lucius allowed himself to hope that it was true.

_The Dark Lord has fallen._

It was stunning. Miraculous, even – never had Lucius _truly_ imagined that it might happen. He had always believed that the Dark Lord would stay in power, perhaps not forever, but for the rest of Lucius's life. At best, he had hoped that he would become _stable_ in his power so that the war could end…

But no. No, he was really gone. And that meant that Lucius and Alice could…

"We have to find out what's happened to him!" Bellatrix said. She stumbled to her feet, grabbing her husband and shaking him. "We have to find the- find an Auror, they'll know–"

"No, they won't, Bella," Rodolphus said quietly.

"Yes, they will! They _have to!_" She turned on Lucius, eye wild. "Lucius, we need to–"

"I'll go," Lucius said immediately.

_I'll go to the Longbottoms, I'll get Alice, I'll tell her…_

"You will?" Bellatrix's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Why would you want to go? The Dark Lord hardly matters to you…"

"That is untrue," Lucius said coolly. "And I will go, because you're in no state to."

"Don't you dare tell me–"

"Don't try to fool yourself," he said, feigning impatience. "You're hysterical, and rightly so, for someone who cared as much for the Dark Lord as we _know_ you did…"

"Don't talk about him in the past tense! He is not dead!"

"Of course not," Lucius said quickly. "A momentary lapse in speech… but that isn't important. I shall go and find an Auror and I shall get the information out of them – I can do it without revealing myself, since they will think it's just idle curiosity from a co-worker…"

"Of course…" Bellatrix murmured, slumping slowly back onto the sofa on which she had been lying. "But if you aren't back in a few hours…"

Lucius nodded quickly. "If I'm not back in a few hours, then send someone after me."

It would be safe. He would have disappeared with Alice within a few hours. All that they might ever find would be the Longbottoms' empty house.

_There's no reason that I'll have to stay at Alice's home for that long._

He Disapparated to the street outside the Longbottoms' home and didn't bother waiting to check whether there was anyone home before he threw the gate open and strode up the path. He banged on the door, breathing heavily while he waited for it to open.

Alice, mercifully, was the one who came to the door. Her cheeks were flushed pink and her eyes were glittering.

"Lucius!" she said in a voice that was clearly barely containing her excitement. "Lucius, oh Lucius, you _must_ have heard the news…"

"That the Dark Lord has fallen," Lucius confirmed, nodding, and Alice looked ready to cry with happiness.

"And that means- for us…" she began, but Lucius cut her off by sweeping her into an embrace, pressing his mouth firmly against hers. Her body quivered in his arms and he clung to him, a joyful sob escaping her lips.

"Where's Frank?" Lucius murmured, resting his forehead against hers. "Is he here?"

"Out," Alice said, breathing heavily. "Celebrating the fall of the Dark Lord like every other man alive and leaving me here to take care of Neville." She shook her head. "He won't be back for a while…"

"Good." Lucius pushed her against the wall and kissed her again, and his hand moved quickly to her waist, then lower, between her thighs. A moan escaped her lips, her eyelids fluttered shut for a moment and then open again to focus on him while her back arched and she ground against his hand.

"Have you talked to Narcissa about a divorce yet?" she murmured, voice thick with lust.

"Don't ruin the mood by talking about her."

"_Mood_?" She tossed her head back and laughed. "Lucius, for the love of Merlin, kissing me against a wall doesn't make a _mood_…"

"Then take me to bed," he smirked.

And she did.

Time seemed to bend while they were together. It blurred and stretched out until Lucius had no idea whether he had been in bed with Alice for only a few moments or an hour or several long days. He was exhausted but when Alice rolled on top of him and kissed him and murmured teasing comments in his ear, he couldn't resist her. He was half-mad with the thought that they were finally free from fear of the Dark Lord. It was like a dream, a wonderful, wonderful dream in which he would not and could not deny Alice anything that she desired.

Eventually, she slumped at his side, breathing heavily, her eyes glittering, and Lucius kissed her roughly one more time before they sank back on the pillows and finally lay still.

Alice curled against Lucius, who turned his head a little to look around the bedroom. He could see his and Alice's reflections in a looking glass, himself a mess of sweaty hair and Alice as perfectly put together as ever. Her short, dark hair was mussed in the most enticing way he could have ever imagined and she looked so dreadfully beautiful, lying there with her head on Lucius's chest…

Then there was a bang downstairs.

Lucius sat upright, dislodging Alice, who slid off him and scrambled to her feet, looking around wildly.

"What–"

"Get out of my home, I'm warning you!" Lucius heard Frank calling from downstairs, and he grabbed his robes, scrambling into them, sure that it was he who was being told to get out. He had no doubt that he could have bested Frank in a duel, but it was so much better to avoid the fight…

But then Lucius heard another voice downstairs.

His sister-in-law's voice.

"Don't try that with me!" she was snarling, her voice no longer high and hysterical but instead low and dangerous. "You know what's become of the Dark Lord!"

"Oh God," Alice breathed. She snatched her own clothes up, pulling her blouse and skirt on haphazardly and grabbing her wand.

Lucius was torn for a moment. He should have taken Alice away, let Frank and Bellatrix fight, but Alice was already at the door.

"Alice–"

She didn't even look back at him, rushing down the stairs with her wand out.

For just a moment, Lucius debated going after her. It would be _wrong_ of him not help her, but Alice was a skilled witch. She and Frank could surely take on Bellatrix…

So Lucius Disapparated.

He stood in the street outside, skulking in the shadows so that he could not be seen and waited, expecting at any moment for Alice to come out, flushed and wearing a serious expression but utterly unscathed, as he _knew_ she had come out of fights before.

But it wasn't until two hours later that anyone came out.

And it was Bellatrix.

Even from the distance, Lucius could see the smug expression on Bellatrix's face and he knew that whatever had happened had been terrible.

She turned, clearly speaking to someone inside, and then Rodolphus, Rabastan, and a thin, pale boy that Lucius barely recognized as a lower-ranking member of the Death Eaters exited as well, Bellatrix raised her wand, and the Dark Mark burst from the tip, exploding over the house.

Then the four of them Disapparated.


	6. Chapter 6

Lucius felt his heart sink into his stomach. He was frozen in place, unable to speak, unable to move, unable to think.

_This means Alice is dead._

_Alice…_

_Oh, Alice…_

His legs felt numb, but he managed to stumble forward. He _needed_ to get inside, even though he feared what he would see – or else he would convince himself that Alice was alive and then he would drive himself mad…

He flung the door open and stumbled in.

There was no blood, but that was hardly a surprise. The killing curse didn't leave blood, and neither did the Cruciatus curse, which would _surely_ have been what Bellatrix was using if she was trying to get information out of the Longbottoms…

"Alice?" Lucius called out, trying to keep his voice calm and steady.

No reply.

"Alice?"

A side table was overturned, the vase of flowers that had been on it smashed on the ground. It was sickening.

"_Alice!_"

Then he heard movement.

He drew out his wand swiftly, his heart beating quickly. If there was a Death Eater still here, then he would have heard Lucius calling for Alice…

But no Death Eater appeared.

The door to the parlour swung open slowly and Lucius saw Alice standing there.

For a moment, he thought it was too good to be true. He thought that he was looking at a ghost or that his imagination was playing tricks on him, but Alice stood as solid as anyone in the doorway.

"Alice!"

She didn't respond, didn't look at him. Her eyes were unfocussed and she was staring into space.

"Alice?"

Her lips parted, but no words came out and she still didn't look at Lucius. He reached out tentatively to touch her hand and she didn't even move, didn't acknowledge him at all…

"Alice, can you hear me?"

When she still made no response, he moved into her line of vision and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her roughly. "Alice!"

She let out a wordless cry, pulling backwards and flinging her arms up over her head, and that was when Lucius knew that something was terribly, terribly wrong.

"Alice…"

She tripped as she stumbled backwards and fell to the ground, curling up into a ball. In the parlour behind her, Lucius could see Frank, sitting on the floor with his legs straight out in front of him like the grotesque limbs of a rag doll, his body hanging limply against the edge of the couch.

"She doesn't look so nice like this, does she?"

Lucius whirled around, raising his wand, and saw Bellatrix standing behind him, her wand already out and trained on his chest.

"If you try to fight me," she said calmly, "I'll kill you. I knew you'd come here to see your pretty little mistress – you probably thought that she'd be dead, didn't you? If you knew what we put her through, you'd wish she was…"

"What did you do to her?" Lucius snarled.

Bellatrix let out a small laugh.

"Do you know, Lucius," she asked, "what happens when you hold the Cruciatus Curse on someone long enough?" She was smiling, her eyelids lowered and an expression of profound pleasure on her face. "They break, Lucius, they break. You can see it happen… one moment they're screaming and fighting and begging and the next moment they're just limp…"

"You _tortured_ them!"

"Yes," she said. "Yes, I did exactly that. And all for naught…" Her face clouded. "They didn't know anything…"

"Why did you _do_ it if they didn't know?" Lucius cried, his voice thick with agony. He wanted to _kill_ Bellatrix, but her wand was still trained on him and he knew from all too much experience that she could best him in a fight.

"My God, you're thick, Lucius," sneered Bellatrix. "Surely you _never_ thought that it's just _coincidence_ that I _happened_ to come to the Longbottoms? Of all the Aurors I could have chosen…"

"Wh- what?"

"I had to take revenge on my sister's behalf, didn't I?" Bellatrix looked past Lucius at Alice, who was still quivering on the ground. "I couldn't just let her husband's lover go unscathed…"

"You did this for- _revenge_? On _her_?" Lucius drew back, revolted.

"One could say I was… killing two birds with one stone," Bellatrix told him. The look on her face was insufferable, far too sweet and self-satisfied, and she Disapparated before Lucius could lunge at her and shake the smile from her face.

)O(

The trial was a misery. Lucius sat at the back of the courtroom and watched Bellatrix, Rodolphus, Rabastan and Barty – the pale boy who had come out of the house with them – being sentenced to the life sentence in Azkaban that they deserved. But even as the sentence was proclaimed and they were led off by the Dementors to their dreadful fate, Lucius could feel no gratification. It didn't matter what happened to them. Alice was gone.

Not dead.

But gone.

Narcissa did not go to the trial, which was just as well. Lucius preferred to be away from his wife. He could not blame her for what had happened to Alice – not _logically_ – but he didn't want to look her in the eye, knowing that it was her sister who was responsible for Alice's fate. And Bellatrix had done it for Narcissa's sake…

_But it didn't happen because of Narcissa. It's not her fault._

_Don't try to blame anyone else._

_It's all because of you._

_You're the reason Alice is dead._

The voice in Lucius's head, berating him and telling him that it was because of him that Alice's mind was gone, was all he could hear through the trial.

The voice was the reason that, as soon as court was dismissed, Lucius went to St. Mungo's Hospital.

"I'm here to see Alice Longbottom," he told the welcome witch, who was sitting behind a desk, toying with her hair and not looking at any of the visitors.

"Permanent damage ward, spell damage, fourth floor," she told him, not looking up at him, which was a relief. The last thing Lucius needed was to be recognized. He gave her a small, tight smile, then headed upstairs.

It seemed like an endless climb, and with every step, Lucius could only think that it would be so much easier to just turn back. He could go back home to Narcissa and try to not think about Alice anymore. She was gone, after all – she wouldn't recognize him if he saw her, so what was the point?

But he couldn't.

He couldn't make himself turn back. He could only continue up flight after flight of stairs until he was standing in front of a locked door with_ Permanent Damage_ on it.

He knocked.

The door was opened by a smiling witch with a mass of bright, fair curls. Her face was round (_like Alice's_) and she looked quite happy, which was more than Lucius would have been able to manage if he had been the one there. It was almost eerie how cheerful and innocent she appeared. Lucius wanted to her look solemn, haunted – she had seen what happened to Alice. How could she feel anything but the most profound misery?

"Hello," she said brightly. "Can I help you?"

"Y- yes," he said. It was the first time he could recall stammering in a long time – stammering was not something that a man as collected as Lucius would often do. "I'm here to see Alice Longbottom."

The smile slipped from her lips.

"Oh…" she said softly, her eyebrows drawing together in a gentle, concerned frown. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

She hesitated, then nodded slowly and opened the door a little wider.

"She's in here," she said quietly. "Probably sleeping, so don't…" Her voice trailed off as Lucius stepped past her, transfixed by the sight of the ward.

There were five beds, all made up with crisp white sheets and lined so neatly against the far wall. Three of them were empty. Two of them were occupied.

Alice and Frank.

Frank's eyes were closed and his chest rising and falling in a slow and steady rhythm. Lucius could only assume that he was asleep, but he spared him only a glance before looking to Alice.

Her eyes were wide open. She was staring at the ceiling.

"Alice," the witch said, moving over to stand beside her and touching her arm lightly. "You have a visitor, dear, isn't that lovely? Someone's come to see you… that's nice of them, isn't it?"

_Don't talk to her like she's a child_, Lucius wanted to say. _She's an Auror, she's a talented witch, she isn't a little girl who needs to be babied! Talking to her like that is only going to make things worse!_

But he controlled himself and moved slowly to stand beside Alice's bed.

She didn't look at him. Her eyes were still trained upon the ceiling.

Lucius glanced at the witch, forcing a politely sorrowful look, something like what he might have worn if Alice had been a distant cousin or someone who worked with him instead of the woman who he would have gladly given up his life for. "I wonder if you might mind giving us a bit of privacy," he said, and he made it clear in his tone that it was an order, not a request.

The witch nodded, the cheery smile returning to her face. "I'll just step outside. If you need anything, all you need do is open the door…"

"Thank you," he said coolly, and waited until she was gone before he looked back at Alice.

Her eyes were wide, glassy and empty, completely devoid of the spark and emotion that he had grown used to seeing in her. It was uncanny, like looking into the face of a corpse.

He might as well have been looking into the face of a corpse.

It might have been easier for him, really, if Bellatrix had just killed Alice. Then, at least, the hope would have been entirely gone. Lucius would not have been able to hold out that tiniest, maddest little spark of hope that Alice might still be _in there_ somewhere.

He leaned over her, trying to get into her line of vision. He could see his reflection in her eyes, her once beautiful, bright, dark eyes. It was like looking into a mirror.

If only he stared deep enough, he _wished_ that he might be able to find Alice behind them, but he could only see his own reflection.

"Alice…" he whispered.

She blinked but did not acknowledge him. Her lips parted just slightly and Lucius's heart leapt, but then they closed again and she didn't make a single sound.

"Do you blame me for this, Alice?" he hissed, aware that his voice was harsh but unable to soften it. "Do you blame me for not helping you?"

_As if she could answer._

"I should have," he said bitterly. "I should have gone down and fought… I didn't realize… I thought it was just Bellatrix there, I thought it would be all right…"

Still no response. Her eyes didn't even flicker towards him, her lips didn't move, all he could do was stare into her blank, dark mirrors of eyes.

Perhaps it was a trick of the light, perhaps a trick of his reflection, but Lucius looked as though he was crying.

_He did not cry_.

He would not cry over her. He would not cry over anyone. Weakness was unacceptable and tears would do no good.

But it was so difficult to look into her eyes and see that his reflection was the only thing in them.

So he didn't look. He turned away from her and left the ward without saying anything more because there was nothing that he _could_ say. He went home to Narcissa, just as he had thought he would and tried to put the whole experience from his mind.

But he should have known that it would be impossible.

Narcissa never spoke of Alice again – which came as the most profound of reliefs to Lucius – but when he lay in bed with her, he could only ever think of Alice and what might have happened if he had done something

)O(

_Fin_


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